Jeffrey Dutton ‘96
Great Grads: Jeffrey Dutton ‘96
At the International Trade Administration (ITA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Jeff Dutton, a native of Vadervoort, Ark., serves as director for Korea and Taiwan Affairs in the Office of the Pacific Basin to ensure U.S. business interests are represented in trade discussions.
Big leap from growing up in a town of 120 to leading negotiations on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement this year? Not really if you know how he got there. It is as if he knew while studying imports and exports in civics at Van-Cove High School in Polk County that he was going to make a career out it.
Dutton, 35, received his B.A. in Spanish and international studies from UALR in 1996. During his collegiate studies, he attended Waseda University in Tokyo for a year by receiving the Century Scholarship, which is administered by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Having completed summer study programs in Mexico and Spain and fluent in Spanish and Japanese likely made him an attractive candidate for the program.
Why UALR? “The Donaghey Scholars Program — it offered a rigorous academic program and financial opportunities,” said Dutton on a recent visit to UALR’s Bailey Center. “And because I was able to finish my undergraduate degree debt-free, it encouraged me to go ahead and go on to grad school.” He received a M.A. in international relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York in 1997.
Prior to joining ITA in 1998, Dutton worked as an economic analyst for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. He got his “foot in the door” at ITA in the Office of Automotive Affairs because of skills “first developed at UALR.” The alumnus who’s been around the world and back worked with U.S. auto exporters to increase foreign market participation. In 2001, the trade expert led an automotive equipment trade mission to Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Other ITA roles include being a trade specialist in the Office of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and Inter-American Affairs. Dutton was the lead on market access negotiation issues for the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement, which he said was “the most interesting.”
Dutton has also served as director for Korean trade policy in the Office of Japan, Korea and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. And he recently graduated from the Commerce Department’s Executive Leadership Development Program.
Although he’s time zones away, Dutton is certainly not disconnected from his home state. “This is my fourth trip here this year,” he said before heading back from a trip to see his niece’s basketball game at his alma mater with graduating classes of 30 to 40. His parents, older sister and extended family are still in Polk County, where the foreign trade negotiator who is close with his family doesn’t miss annual traditions such as hunting trips.
Dutton’s also not far removed from his UALR roots. Following in her big brother’s international tread, Brooke Dutton is a Spanish major pursuing a minor in biology at the University and recently completed a study in Guadalajara.
Jeff and a DC neighbor and fellow College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) alum Bryan Goodman, ’96, didn’t know each other very well while at UALR but now live a block from each other in Washington. The two shared political interests and felt compelled to do something for civil rights. For the past three years the two UALR alums have hosted a cocktail party in DC to raise funds for the Stonewall Scholarship they created the to support UALR AHSS students advancing GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) in Arkansas.
With so many opportunities for charitable giving, why Arkansas and why UALR?
“Of the southern states, we thought Arkansas would be more receptive,” Dutton said. “I feel like it would make more of a difference at UALR. (Other universities) have huge endowments. We can make a bigger impact here,” adding, “We’re more valued as alumni.”